


A Life For A Life

by BB_Roin



Category: Danny Phantom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Danny is Harry, F/M, Gen, Ghost King Danny, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-19 03:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16526705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BB_Roin/pseuds/BB_Roin
Summary: "Death has to be fair and equal, but the same doesn't apply to the King of Undead."Danny hears a summons from an alternative world, goes there, and arrives just in time to see an abused-to-death child's soul leaving his broken body.Or, in a world where the Weasleys could not save Harry before it's too late, a life deal is made, and one Ghost King has to step into Harry Potter's shoes to fulfill a deal.





	1. A Life Deal

**Author's Note:**

> Some plots and settings in this story are different from both canons.   
> Not a bashing fic.  
> New tags will be added as the fic proceeds.  
> I don't trust my writing skill so be aware.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You owe me. You owe me big."_  
>  Danny gets a summons, and the story begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [@CeramicMug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeramicMug/pseuds/CeramicMug) for beta!

Danny felt a tug.

A faint, but clear tug.

Which was ... surprising, and not good. 

Ever since he became the new King of the Ghost Zone, people had attempted god knew how many times to summon him. At first, it was pretty interesting and refreshing, but after facing a few too many cults for his liking and being requested to help them destroy the world for at least a dozen times, Danny shut down his summon radio and made sure it stayed silent.

This one, being strong enough for him to feel it, probably meant some assholes had decided to do human sacrifice for real in order to get his attention. The only reason Danny let these types of summons get past his filter was to save the poor soul and give those dicks a real-life lesson.

"...Which means I should probably get moving now." Danny murmured to himself.

So the King of All Ghosts slid from his spot and started concentrating on that weak pull. 

Danny had already figured that it was probably coming from a distant alternative world, since it was quite faint and shaky compared to the other ones he had gotten before, but he was still startled by the amount of energy it consumed to teleport himself to the summoner's location.

What greeted him was even for startling. He had expected to find a dark basement full of cult members and at least one dying victim, not a small prison with only one occupant who turned out to be a kid lying dead on the ground while his soul was slipping out of his body. 

"HOLY SH-"

Danny didn't have time to make any more curses in his head become verbal before he dived down to possess the kid, all the while wishing his temporary possession was able to cure the body enough to hold the soul before it was too late.

He heard a woman's voice rung in his ears:

"What a surprise."

What a surprise indeed. This was just his luck that things could just turn out to be more complicated. 

The place looked like the famous King's Cross Station in England, but a white and empty blank canvas version of it. Danny prepared himself for a bit before turning around, and saw two people standing before him. 

A redheaded woman and a dark-haired kid, who both had the same striking green eyes. Danny felt a heavy pang by how young the kid was, he couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old.

The woman looked at him curiously, while the child seemed stunned.

"May I ask why you are here?" the woman said.

"He summoned me." 

She paused. Something flashed in her eyes but was too quick to catch. 

"That's certainly not expected. But... I am afraid you have come too late. As you can see, he is going to come with me now."

Of all the beings he could have chosen to argue with, this one was possibly the worst and the most stubborn one, but Danny couldn't help himself. "He hasn't exactly left this place, right? Which means he can still choose to go back. I can heal his body as much as ... necessary." He hid his wince. If the boy had already entered his Limbo, then his soul had definitely left his body. 

But it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

"Mom, who is he? What is he talking about?" the boy said in a confused voice, eyes wandering on the ghost's inhuman features.

Death patted the son of the woman whose face it was borrowing gently before looking back at the Ghost King. 

"I know what you're thinking. But why are you doing this?"

"Leaving a dying kid around isn't really my style."

"You don't know him."

"Has that ever stopped me before? Besides, the kid has summoned me, which kind of makes us acquaintances."

She studied Danny's face for a bit. But before she could say anything, the kid suddenly wrenched himself away from the woman he had been leaning against until now. He looked at the two with frightened eyes, struggling for words.

"Am I- am I dead?" He finally asked.

Neither Death nor Danny answered him, but he still perceived the answer from the two's expressions. 

The poor kid took a few steps back, grabbing his hair frantically.

"No, no- they didn't- they wouldn't actually kill me- the Dursleys-"

To Danny's astonishment, Death crouched down and hugged the kid. 

The boy stiffed at first, but then he threw himself at the woman, clutching at her as much as possible, and finally broke down crying.

"A deal then." She said, still kneeling down and hugging the kid, "A life for a life. I might help you if you accept and fulfill my deal." 

"Please, do elaborate."

"I have left some of my stuff in this world." Death said, "I have promised that whoever managed to unite all of them, I shall give a second chance when they first meet me-- a chance to choose to return to the living."

"Are you saying that you are willing to redeem that prize right now?"

"Not without a price. You, of course, would need to collect all of them at some point, while he needs a usable body to return to. And I will still take that piece of soul." She pointed at the bench next to them- Danny hadn't noticed until now that there was something under it. One look at it and he almost jumped. What lay under there, was a soul so broken and mangled that it made him sick to the core by just looking at it. 

"What the hell is that?!"

Death's gaze turned dark. "The most unholy thing you can imagine. But it is not your concern right now."

Danny was still wary of it, but decided to trust Death on this one. "So basically I get to find all of your treasures, heal his body, and that's all?" It's sounded too easy and too simple.

The boy had stopped crying at some point, and had been listening intently to the conversation. He was still clutching at Death, looking scared and pale, but there was also hope in his eyes now. 

Death shook her head. "He can't use that body anymore. I can only return the soul to its original body, and since that body is _dead_ , returning him to that one will only kill him again instantly. And before you ask, no, you can't just heal that body. No one leaves here without making a choice, his soul needs to find a destination before any of us can leave here. For the time is frozen here, if you can't- and I promise that you are unable to- fix his body in an instant... Well, like I said, it would just kill him again instantly."

"Can't I find my dear old Time Master to help with this one?"

"Is he here though?"

"...I'm guessing you have already thought through this part in your deal then, right?"

"There are a few ways in this world to create another body for a person... I suppose I can help you redeem this one as well."

Danny stared at her. "...Sorry, I am a bit lost here. What's your deal exactly?"

Death actually puffed. Since she was no longer holding the kid, she stood up and crossed her arms. "I will lend him a new body, fuse his soul with it, and send him to another reality. While you, you would have to stay here, keep Harry Potter 'alive' in his world, find my gifts here in this world, and pay the bill for his new body. Once you fulfill your part of the deal, I will let him return to this world, _alive_."

"Wait, back up a bit. What do you mean by 'send him to another reality' and 'keep Harry Potter alive'?"

"I will not allow humans to get any more funny ideas about Death. What they have done so far to try to trick me is becoming more and more annoying." She gave a glare at the haunting thing under the bench. "I want to make sure he wouldn't have any chance to spread my secret, whether intentionally or unintentionally." 

She gave an apologetic smile to the boy who was becoming more and more pale with every word she had spoken. The kid appeared to have lost his voice, and considering the circumstances Danny couldn't really blame him.

"And what do you mean I have to keep him alive in this world?"

"It's the same thing. People will get suspicious if a kid just disappears and then reappears with no memory of the absence. In my scenario, you would possess the kid's body, heal it while keeping up the act to let people think the kid is still alive. His identity in his world can also help you accomplish your part of the job."

Danny stared at her.

"Okay then."

Now it was Death who looked surprised. She didn't speak for a moment. 

Then she turned, facing the one who created this Limbo.

"Harry," she said, kneeling down in front of him.

The child, Harry, seemed to still be dazed and quite pale. However, being relatively calm now, he stared at the woman who took his mother's face and stated: "You are not my mom, are you?"

"No, I am not. But, besides her image, I also embody her personality and memory. If Lily Potter was truly here, she would want you to make the same choice as well."

"Am I really dead?"

"Yes."

"But you are offering me another chance?"

"Yes."

He took a shaky breath.

"I guess I don't really have a choice here."

"This is up to you, Harry." Death said with gentle voice, "While we want you to make that choice, it doesn't mean you have to take it. Do not follow the wishes of others without listening to your own heart."

"...I can't see my friends anymore?"

"Not in the near future."

"If I go with you, will I meet my parents again?"

"That's a secret that I could not tell you now."

Harry was silent for a moment. He then turned to Danny.

"Sir, eh- Sorry, I don't think I have caught your name."

"Danny, Danny Phantom."

"Mr- Eh, Mr. Phantom-" The prepubescent seemed to silently wonder whether this name was a joke or not, but moved on to stating what he felt was the pressing issue. "I don't have anything to pay you back-"

"Don't worry, kid. Like I said, leaving a dying kid alone isn't my style. And believe me, it isn't such a big deal for me." Okay, that's a total lie, but he didn't need to add this to the kid's moral burden. 

Danny turned to Death.

"If you have to take him to another world, can you send him to my world? My great-great-grandniece just gave birth to my great-great-great-grandniece. I know she wouldn't mind having another son and a big brother for their daughter."

"Sure."

"Thanks. See? No big deal. Just enjoy your vacation in an alternative universe."

The kid seemed to be a bit overwhelmed. Danny guessed he probably hadn't really properly contemplated living in another reality yet and just got a full reminder of it. 

"Th-thanks."

"You're welcome."

Harry took turns looking at the two non-humans, seeming to confirm their approval. 

He took a deep breath, then said: 

"I think I have made my choice."

Death embraced him at that, and the kid hugged back as hard as he had the first time, but without the tears.

"Go then." Death said, pointing at the endless hallway leading to the other side of the train station, "Just keep walking, and before you know it you will wake up."

The child inhaled and exhaled, then nodded with finality. He glanced at them a final time before turning around. Harry took one step, and then another, and another; it didn't take long for him to disappear in the distance.

No one spoke for a while.

"Okay, now spill it."

Death gave him an unimpressed look. "How much have you figured out?"

"Plenty." He frowned at her, "Hel, I _know_ you. I know how impressive you are, after all you are _the Guide of All Souls_. But manifesting a body in the living world? That is by no means in your skill set. Combining that with the fact that you practically forced me into the deal? This is not actually _your_ deal, am I right?"

"It is _my_ deal." she said in frustration, "Just... okay, fine, it's the Moirai."

"What do _they_ have to do with all these?"

"They approached me when they sensed Harry was dying." she said, "They wished to make a deal with me. They wanted me to return the boy's soul, in return, they would rewrite the boy's destiny a bit, make sure he would gather all my gifts at some point in his life. I have no idea how they would think I could be interested just for _that_."

Danny had a feeling that the relationship between Death and the Fates wasn't as harmonious as most people believed it to be.

"And when I told them the boy's body was beyond repair, and thus could not hold his soul, they had the gall to tell me not to worry, for they were going to mend fate again to keep his body more... _functional_."

"As manipulative as always, I see. But why would they go such length to mess with this kid? Is he some Chosen One?"

"Perhaps a big prophecy. I guess if this one misses, a lot more of their Words will be incorrect subsequently, which they will surely want to avoid as much as they can. After all, unlike me and Time, their power relies on people's faith in Fate."

"And what did you decide to do then?"

"Screw them all was my first thought. Death is fair and equal. I don't care what humans and those dramatic fate fairies choose to believe, but heroes die the same way villains die."

"I thought you worked together with the Moirai."

"Not really. While Fate is mutable, Death and Time are absolute." She gave him a look that was just a little too smug. "But... that's before I realized _who_ the kid was. You see, I personally know the child's ancestor. That man was one of the few people who truly understand my blessing. It would be a shame if his bloodline ended in this way."

She paused for a bit.

"It was really up to the kid himself, I just had to present the deal to him. But I could tell that even if he did accept it, what would have waited for him would not be nice. If his fate had caused him to die from abuse the first time, who knows what would happen next. So I was thinking: if I am going to provide him with a life deal, why should I not make him one that would actually save his life?"

"Okay, I understand now." Danny gave her a piercing look. " _You_ are the one who summoned me, aren't you?"

He received a smile that somehow expressed the juxtaposition of innocent and guilty at the same time simultaneously.

"Death has to be fair and equal, but the same doesn't apply to the King of Undead."

Matched with Death’s parting words, the scenery started to fade.

Danny exhaled heavily. 

"You owe me. You owe me _big_."

 

At number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, Harry Potter opened his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this, is the grand opening for this fic.


	2. The Weasleys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Are you telling me I'm a wizard?"_
> 
> Danny assesses the situation. And the Weasleys arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [@CeramicMug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeramicMug/pseuds/CeramicMug) for beta!

Danny had to close his eyes as soon as he opened them.

His head fucking _hurt_.

It didn't help that there was a bird somewhere in the room chirping at him nonstop. Danny raised his hand tiredly.

"Can-can you stop, please? One minute."

To his surprise, this actually worked. The hoots stopped, and Danny could finally concentrate on assessing this body. 

There were burning pains in his stomach and head, added with numerous bruises in different places causing his limbs felt too weak to move. The good thing was that the blood flow was still there, and he sensed no severe damage done to the body, like missing a heart or else. He would have had to withdraw the deal if that had been the case, since even his healing ability didn't include regenerating organs. 

Speaking about the deal...

He understood what Death had been trying to do. The Moirai gave her a deal that was going to screw the kid no matter what, so she got Danny involved and somehow twisted the deal into a new one that... including Danny overshadowing a dead kid and that kid being thrown into a foreign reality.

What was he going to do, exactly? Death pretty much offered nothing about anything. The treasure hunting part was easy to understand, but what did Death mean that she wanted Danny to take up the kid's identity? She mentioned that the kid had an awful destiny- did she want Danny to step in and fulfill it for the kid? Didn't she also say that he had to pay for the kid's body too? Just how exactly was she going to do it? Danny was telling the truth when he said Death could not manifest a body in the physical world. He sincerely hoped that when she said giving the kid a new body, she meant a _real_ body, not sticking the kid's soul in a puppet or something and making him a haunted doll. 

What a mess.

Deciding he could think through the deal after he had a basic understanding of his surroundings, Danny slowly sat up.

The tricky part about possessing a vacant body was that you had to control _everything_. It required a certain level of power and familiarity with the physical body to do it. Normally no ghost would choose to overshadow a dead body, too difficult to control and too uncomfortable, as it was like shoving a non-driver into a broken sports car and asking them to drive on a racetrack right from the start. 

Some ghosts still tried. And that's how zombies happened.

Luckily, Danny was both powerful and familiar enough with the human body due to his own halfa status and all the experience. Yet he still felt like he was trapped in a coffin.

_Breath in, breath out._ After centering himself, Danny opened his eyes again and looked around the room.

He had thought it was a prison, but the truth was it looked more like a normal bedroom with bars on the window. If he were to judge by the color of the sky, it was probably sunset now. 

The room was mostly empty other than a simple bed and a small closet. The door was closed, but it had a cat door on the lower half, and an empty bowl sat next to it. 

Danny frowned at it. _Please don't tell me that's the kid's only food source_.

The bird squeaked again. Danny turned his head. 

Oh.

Looked like he wasn't the only ghost here.

Right there on the closet, a ghost owl was perching at the top. 

Danny could tell it was a relatively new and weak ghost, for its spectral body was still too transparent and misty even in his eyes. It let out another round of frustrated, worried hoots while staring at him with a set of neon-green orbs.

At the far corner of the room, a cage-shaped object was covered in a white sheet.

It wasn't hard to piece two and two together.

"You were with the kid, weren't you?" 

A whimpering squeal. 

This was getting depressing too quickly for Danny's liking. Just how awful had the kid's life been? First being imprisoned and starved to death himself, now his pet was dead too?

"Don't worry," He said to the owl, "he is all right now, alive and safe." That is, he would be only if Hel had kept her promise, but Danny trusts her. "But I'm afraid you cannot see him anymore... Wait, maybe you can-- Any interest in being a king's Messenger?" 

He was certain that Cujo and Wulf would welcome a new co-worker.

It took some time to thoroughly explain everything and more time to arrange it. But after that, the owl was just too happy to be able to reunite with her former owner. At first Danny had planned to give her a letter to deliver, but he failed to find any paper or pen to write with even though he'd searched through the whole room twice in his sour body, so he just told her to find his niece (and hopefully, Harry) then bring back whatever they sent back.

The owl nipped on his finger friendly before flapped her ghostly wings and taking off, flying through the solid wall without a hitch. Danny watched her gliding through the evening sky, imagining what it would have been like if she had been alive. Then he heard the movements.

He turned around. A woman's hand appeared through the cat-flap, pushing a bowl of canned soup into the room.

Okay, might as well let the game begin now.

Danny cleaned his throat silently, put up his best innocent and confused voice. 

"Uh, hello?"

The hand paused.

"Excuse me, but I- um, I woke up here and couldn't recall anything. I think I might... have lost my memories? Can you tell me where I am? May I have your name?"

"What are you trying to play now, _Boy_?" A woman's voice hissed in hatred after a moment of silence.

"I'm not lying, madam. I just woke up here and don't remember anyth-"

But she quickly grabbed the empty bowl and withdrew herself, ignoring Danny's following words and, by the rushing footsteps, was already going downstairs.

"Well, it could have been worse."

 

The soup tasted awful, but Danny still drank it. This body needed as many nutrients as possible.

He spent the rest of his time listening intently to the voices coming downstairs. There was the woman from before, Petunia, and a man, Vernon, who seemed to be her husband, and also their son whose name was switching between Dudders, Dudleykins, and Diddy.

Their talking mostly consist of the man complaining about his job and the woman criticizing her neighbors. The boy didn't join them and went to play video games soon after dinner. Danny had listened for the whole evening but never once did them mention Harry Potter, like they weren't aware the boy was caged in this very same house.

Danny tried to talk to them again when they came upstairs but was ignored once again. He tried one more time when the man unlocked the door and yelled at him to go to the bathroom, which earned him a hard slap to face and a threat to keep his mouth shut.

These people were so _dead_.

When the family went to sleep, Danny had to restrain himself from giving them the worst nightmares he could think of and making them a bunch of traumatized messes forever. Oh he certainly still would, just not today. The body was still healing slowly, and drawing back his possession halfway through the process would do more harm than good. Fixing up a dead body was hard. He didn't need to do it twice.

He debated what he should do if they didn't plan to release him at all. He could beat the man to unconscious next time he opened the door, or just turn intangible and walk away. But if he wanted to keep up this "I'm Harry Potter" façade, then he needed to be able to explain how a scrawny boy could do all that. 

He was still thinking when he noticed the light outside his window. At first he thought it was sunrise, but then he registered the sound of a car's engine, and that sound was a little too close to be coming from the street below.

He sat up sharply.

There was someone looking at him, through the window, through _the second-floor window_.

He almost shot the redhead kid out of instinct.

"Harry!" The kid cried in delight.

Danny took a moment to make sure his eyes weren't fooling him. There was a car, outside of his window, _in midair_. 

He had seen a lot of things floating in the air while they weren't supposed to, but usually it's done by ghosts, not three normal-looking kids.

"Harry, are you all right?" The kid asked, a bit worried this time.

"Uh, sorry, should I know you?" He said in a confused and scared voice.

"What?" One of the older twins gave him a funny stare.

"I, eh, I kind of lost my memory and don't remember a thing?" He quickly said.

" _-WHAT?!_ "

Now basically everyone was panicking. Danny had to shush them twice during his brief explaining.

It wasn't hard to pretend to have amnesia when he truly didn't know any of them, but Danny still felt bad for putting such shocked and horrified expressions on their faces, when apparently they were Harry's friends and was here to rescue him (though in fact they were a bit too late). It got even worse when he mentioned there was a dead owl. The Ron kid looked so devastated that Danny had to drop his confused-and-scared-amnesiac-kid appearance in order to comfort him.

"Do you think he accidentally obliviated himself?" He heard Fred, the twin, asked his identical brother. The two were working on the bars while hearing him out.

"Well, it can explain why he got a warning."

What warning? Danny wanted to ask, but with the bars already been taken out, the three were urging him to get into the car. He climbed into it, shut the door, and was trying to find his seatbelt when Fred hit the pedal. The car rushed into the starry sky, away from the house where the real Harry Potter had died. 

Danny didn't want to consider what would have been if they had come here only to discover their friend's dead body.

With the twins on the front seats, Ron was the one doing most of the explanation for him. He seemed to be quite disturbed by the amount of things his friend did not remember, but was doing his best to explain everything to Danny. It was halfway through his explanation about how he never got a letter from Harry this summer that he suddenly jumped. 

"We forgot your trunk!"

"My what?"

"Your trunk! All your Hogwarts stuff! And your Nimbus 2000!" Ron cried, then asked Danny in a desperate voice, "Please tell me you at least have your wand with you." 

Danny had no idea what he was talking about, but he did catch the word "wand". Combined with the fact that he was sitting in a flying car, Danny finally pieced it together. 

He blurted out: "Are you telling me I'm a _wizard_?"

And that surely led to even more chaos.

 

By the time they had arrived, Danny was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of a magical world. 

Magic wasn't new to him, but an actual magical community? _That_ was new.

With his mind deep in thoughts, he barely registered the house he had just arrived at. It was when Ron suddenly stiffened beside him that he realized a woman was marching at them with an atmosphere that screamed "YOU ARE SCREWED" so loudly that Danny almost backed off himself.

The woman gave him a brief smile before pouring her full rage on her sons.

" _Have you any idea how worried I’ve been?_ "

"Mum, wait a-" Ron said in a weak voice.

" _Beds empty! No note! Car gone - could have crashed - out of my mind with worry -never, as long as I’ve lived- you wait until your father gets home-_ "

"Mum-"

"Don't ' _Mum_ ' me now Ronald Weasley! _We never had trouble like-_ "

" _HARRY IS OBLIVIATED!_ "

" _-WHAT?!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about Hedwig. But I promise she is happy in the rest of the story.  
> Molly's lines are from the book ;)


	3. St. Mungo's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"If I do look like my father, I'll still look like him with or without glasses."_
> 
> Danny visits the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [@CeramicMug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeramicMug/pseuds/CeramicMug) for beta!

To say Mrs. Weasley didn't take the news too well was an understatement.

Since Danny was still playing an amnesiac, Ron and the twins did most of the talking for him while he stood awkwardly in the background. After it had basically evolved into a shouting match, a girl and yet another redhead brother rushed downstairs sequentially, both still in pajamas. The girl, who apparently was Ron's younger sister, blushed fiercely when she met eyes with Danny and looked ready to sprint back if her brother hadn't blocked the stairs.

Danny gave her an awkward smile, which proved to be counterproductive when the girl's face became as red as a tomato.

By the time Mr. Weasley arrived home, things had mostly settled down with the help from the eldest brother, Percy, who then also reported the situation to his father in a rather professional manner. The three eldest Weasleys discussed briefly before Mr. Weasley teleported himself away by spinning (Danny wasn't sure the spinning part was a necessary movement or just for dramatic emphasis). 

Before Danny could ask any questions, he found himself back in the flying car with Ron. Fred was once again in the driver seat, but this time it was his mother who sat beside him, not his twin who was ordered to stay behind. His expression conveyed he could live without this.

"Don't worry, dear, we are going to St. Mungo's right now." Mrs. Weasley told Danny softly, "Arthur is off to get all your stuff. Don't think too much right now. Everything will be fine." She then turned back and was again watching Fred's every movement with a killing glare.

"What's St. Mungo's?" Danny asked Ron quietly.

"A hospital." Ron said, "St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

A magic hospital with magic doctors. _Crap_. 

He must have shown something on his face, causing Ron to start comforting him with gentle words. Or at least what he thought were gentle words. Danny had a feeling that Ron wasn't really good at this mental support thing, since "they are no longer allowed to torture you to break the charm," was hardly comforting.

He couldn't really share his worries with Ron, ad they mainly applied for Danny Phantom rather than Harry Potter. Could wizards tell it was a ghost controlling a corpse if they looked close enough? Should he check-out temporarily? Then again, he had barely healed the body, and there was no guarantee it wouldn't drop dead the moment Danny released his possession. If people found out before he returned... well, resurrection was much harder to explain than amnesia. 

Well, he might just wait and see, and if the worst came, he could always act like an evil ghost had seized Harry Potter's body and just run with it. At least that would be an easier and more believable explanation.

 

Wizards were creative, Danny had to give them that. Who would have thought that a deserted toy store was actually an undercover hospital entrance? 

He could barely contain his excitement from visiting a real, magic hospital before he ran into the first problem. Literally.

This place was, apparently, warded against ghosts.

It wasn't a strong ward- for him anyway, in these days there were few things that could keep him out if he really set his mind to it- but it was still there. 

His companions didn't show any reactions when they walked past the edge of the ward and vanished beyond the muddy glass. With Mrs. Weasley hovering over him, Danny didn't have any choice but to keep moving forward. 

He braced himself before stepped into it.

It was like squishing your face into a wall made of jelly, hard to press in and impossible to breathe. Danny had to practically squeeze himself through it. After already enduring the distress from being trapped in an unfamiliar vessel, now the sheer discomfort doubled. 

It didn't help that the reception area they arrived at was too crowded and noisy for his liking, and the line in front of them was insanely long for what was supposed to be a magical building.

"Are you okay? You look pale." Ron said worriedly.

"I'm fine. I just... don't like hospitals." Technically it wasn't a lie. 

"Can't blame you with that. By the way, I've been wanting to ask but it kind of slipped my mind... where are your glasses?"

Danny didn't lose a beat. "I think I lost those, though I don't remember how."

With his superhuman senses, he couldn't really tell if the kid had had bad eyesight or not. Since the soul he'd met in the Limbo didn't have the glasses on, so he had simply assumed the kid didn't wear his glasses frequently, although he did find one broken pair in his room. Guess he shouldn't have taken an easy way out instead of investigating. 

"Do you have spare- oh, wait, you wouldn't remember that either. Sorry." Ron shifted awkwardly, "So, uh, let's go get you a new pair when we finish?" 

"Well, about that... do they have ophthalmologists here?" 

"Have _what_?"

"Doctors that can fix eyes." If they could reattach misplaced limbs (judging by some of the other passing patients), correcting eyesight should be the less difficult task inside this hospital.

And Danny really wasn't a fan of glasses. He had never needed a pair, neither before nor after his halfa metamorphosis. Plus glasses were a potential hazard during a fight. There had been one time Tucker got punched in the face when he was wearing his glasses, and the shattered lenses did more harm than the punch itself. So, nope, no glasses as long as he could help.

And if he dumped the glasses, hopefully, people would associate the lack of glasses with the behavioral changes instead of noticing further details.

"I think you mean _Healers_. And, yes, they can do it, in a flash. Just... are you _sure_?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well... some people prefer to keep it that way, they think it offers them a different point of view, helping them accomplish more. And people always did say you look like your father in your glasses, so..." Ron trailed off.

"If I do look like my father, I'll still look like him with or without glasses. But will it cost a lot?" He didn't have any money with him right now, and if possible he didn't want to spend the Weasley's money at all. They certainly didn't look like they had much to spare.

"It's free."

"Then I guess it's settled."

When it was finally their turn, they were instructed to go to the fourth floor. Mrs. Weasley clearly knew where to go, so the boys just followed along behind her. 

They were led to a room where a witch in a green robe was waiting for them at the door.

"May I have the patient's name?" she asked in a bored voice.

Mrs. Weasley answered with a slight hesitation.

"Potter. Harry Potter."

The witch froze, looked past Mrs. Weasley to the three boys standing behind her. 

She gave a small shriek when her eyes fell on and focused on Danny's face, or to be more precise, his forehead. And she wasn't the only one. After they were led inside, another healer, male this time, kept staring at him in the exact same manner when Danny was asked to sit in front of him.

Danny tried his best to act like he hadn't noticed their strange behaviors.

This was not good. He hadn't had chance to look at a mirror since he arrived in this world, therefore he couldn't tell what about his face had startled them. Could professional Healers see something that normal wizards couldn't? The Weasleys and the others here didn't react like this when they first saw him.

Danny had already approximated two escape plans in his head by the time they started the examination. 

They found a nasty wound on the back of his head, which Danny had totally overlooked, the bruises, and few cracked bones. Judging by Mrs. Weasley's expression, Danny suspected if she got to the Dursleys first, they would barely have pieces left when Danny had his turn. 

The Healers magicked away all of the injuries with simple swings of their wand. They then proceeded to ask him all kinds of questions, trying to determine how much he still remembered. Danny did his best to answer them properly, carefully picking his words. He needed to keep his act but he also wanted to avoid being restrained to a hospital bed. 

Though some questions made absolutely no sense and he wasn't faking his reaction to them. What on earth was _Quidditch_?

"Well, as far as we can tell, Mr. Potter had pretty much lost all his memories. However, we can't tell what caused it. The wound on his head is possible, but it is still too minor to result in any memories lost. And I doubt someone obliviated Mr. Potter. Victims of the memory charm tend to be more... disoriented." the male Healer said, "Mr. Potter is in a fairly good condition. I myself haven't seen anyone holds themselves this well after being obliviated."

"He can't have his memories back?" Ron asked in a tensed voice.

"I can't say for sure right now. Usually, people would not be able to regain their memory if they are obliviated, unless they suffer extreme pressure of some sort. The protocol is to settle them in our ward until they relearn enough things to live on their own. But like I said, Mr. Potter is in quite good condition. And... well, he _is_ Harry Potter." he said it like it was a matter of fact, and Danny felt that everyone in this room except him seemed to get it, "I'd say it's okay for him to return home. He might even remember everything on his own."

This was more preferable to Danny that he had dared to expect. They would actually let him go without any suspicion? Man, he had been so worried and paranoid for nothing. 

The Weasleys were reasonably unsatisfied with the result, but Danny managed to assure them. When he asked to have his eyes corrected, Mrs. Weasley gave the same argument as Ron (" _But Harry, you look so much like your dad this way!_ "), and Danny was able to convince her with the same excuse. 

When they were driving back home, Danny asked a question that had bugged him for a while now.

"Why did they all act weird when they met me? Is there something on my face?"

"Your face is still dashing, Harrikins." Fred said from the driver seat, "People tend to act like that when they meet The-Boy-Who-Lived. They just can't help themselves."

"...I think I'm missing something here. The-Boy-Who-Lived?"

"Oh, honey, you don't remember?" Mrs. Weasley asked in concern.

"I'm sorry, but... I really have no idea what you are talking about. Could you tell me, please?"

The three Weasleys gave each other a helpless look. "I'm not sure it's a good idea..." Ron said carefully.

"Better now than later, right? And if it's something concerning me, it might help me to remember something."

In the end, Mrs. Weasley, with great hesitation and carefully constructed words, told him everything about You-Know-Who, the Wizarding War, and the death of his parents. 

He remained silent after that, and the others respected it and left him alone. Though in truth Danny was valiantly overcoming the urge to facepalm. A Dark Lord? Dead parents? Hailed as a hero since childhood? What a stereotyped Chosen One story. No wonder the Moirai wanted to interfere. This was their favorite genre after all.

He needed to be more cautious. The power of the fates upon people depended on how much they believed in it, and this did not just apply to the person directly related to it, but everyone who concerned themselves about it. The more they believed in it, the more they would be affected by it. And if the whole wizard world believed Harry Potter was someone special, one wrong move could shake their whole society.

Man, just what exactly did he manage to drag himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments!


	4. The Burrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Danny decided to spend the rest of his time talking to everyone._
> 
> Danny's summer with the Weasleys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [@CeramicMug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeramicMug/pseuds/CeramicMug) for beta!

In the end, Danny decided he needed to settle down first and learn enough about this world to start planning for real. As it was, he couldn't do much when he didn't even know what year it was.

The first thing he did after returning from the hospital was going through all of Harry's stuff, which, to Danny's amusement, included a broom. He had thought the robes were already overkilling. Wizards were definitely traditionalists. 

The rest of the stuff was what Danny could expect more or less from a teen wizard in a boarding school: a wand, clothes, stationeries ( _quills_ , seriously?), potion ingredients, books, notes, letters, and about a dozen random tools. 

He touched the wand with great caution, and, to his relief, nothing happened. It felt like a completely normal stick in Danny's hand. He hoped that was a good thing.

He was slightly disappointed that Harry did not write a dairy. It'd have been a great help. He went through the books and notes next and it wasn't hard to figure out Harry was right-handed by the way he wrote. He compared his handwriting to Harry's and decided it would be a dead giveaway. People should not change the way they wrote even in amnesia. It's a habit, not a memory. He had to find a way to explain it.

Well, the easiest way to do it...

He deliberately broke his right hand when he went down for dinner that day. 

The pain on his face mostly came from the guilt for making the whole household more worried than they already were. 

Danny claimed his hand still hurt, even though he knew Mrs. Weasley had fixed it perfectly, and switched to do things with his left hand onwards. Thankfully, nobody suspected a thing. He just had to remember not to write too neat at the beginning.

He received his first owl mail the next day, from one Hermione Granger, whom he learnt was also Harry's best friend. 

Ron had warned him that Hermione tended to be a book nerd, but Danny still wasn't prepared to receive a long letter with at least thirty different citations at the bottom, each in perfect Harvard format. If he deleted all the personal stuff included, this letter could probably pass as a first draft of an amnesia research paper. Amateur scholars should and could learn from this girl. 

Danny wrote her back an equally long letter filled with soft words and messy scripts, hoping it could make the girl less upset about her friend's memory loss. He also told her he planned to relearn the first year's content and asked whether she could give him some tips.

Her reply was an extremely detailed study plan, five pages long.

Danny was very, very impressed.

So here he was, after who knew how many decades, becoming a student once again. 

He already had a fair grasp of all the school-related objectives, thanks to Hermione. History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts seemed pretty academic, just reading and writing. He wasn't too concerned about classes like Potions and Herbology either, which to him were more like cooking and gardening, thus didn't require doing real magic. And he could nail Astronomy whenever he wanted. 

However, Transfiguration and Charms could be a problem. The courses involved a lot of actual practices. Danny had never done magic before, let alone in someone else's body. And it would be too risky to try on his own. From what he had heard, _anything_ could happen when magic was involved. 

Danny decided to spend the rest of his time talking to everyone.

 

Since he had only been told about the magical part of the world, he had hoped to learn more about the other part of it from the two adults, but obviously wizards knew nothing about the Muggle world. 

Mr. Weasley asked him much more questions than the other way around, and Danny found himself trying to describe the utility of a rubber duck to a middle-aged man. 

Mrs. Weasley was better, but as the incarnation of a mother hen she refused to bring up anything non-PG, thus Danny didn't learn many useful things except he should never try blood-flavored lollipops until he became of age, which was seventeen for some reason instead of eighteen. It baffled Danny greatly. 

Ron was easily the one Danny spoke with the most. He told Danny every detail of their time together without Danny asking him. The redheaded boy seemed to take it as a way to ease his hurt from the fact that his friend no longer remembered any of them. He kept glancing at Danny hopefully when he talked, waiting to see at least one bit of recognition in his eyes. Danny felt awful to keep up his hope while he knew it would result in nothing. 

"You mentioned I had gotten a warning the other day." He asked, "What did you mean by that?"

"Dad came home and said you'd received an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles." Ron said, "We are not supposed to use magic outside of school, you know. The Ministry will track you down. It's lucky that they only gave you a warning. They can snap your wand for violation if they want."

So no practicing magic then. And the Ministry of Magic had a way to track magic use. Danny made a note in his mind to investigate later. If the authority here had a way to keep tabs on him, he’d better find a way to block it or take it into consideration of his future plans.

"Did the warning mention why or how I used magic?"

"Nope. Accidental magic, most likely. Might also be the cause of your Obliviation. The time fits. Perhaps you triggered it when you were trying to escape from there. No wonder we didn't get any of your letters, who knows how long had they had caged you..."

Danny next asked, carefully keeping his face neutral, "Do my relatives... do they always treat me like that?"

There were flashes of anger and regret in Ron's eyes before he answered. "I don't- I don't think so. I can't say for sure. You don't really talk about them. You told us they were awful, but nothing more. And you didn't seem concerned when you went with them- I'm so sorry Harry. If I knew sooner-"

"Dude, we have had this same conversation too many times. Again, it's not your fault, and you saved me, remember? Now, what do you mean _we have smuggled a dragon_?"

The twins were the next closest to Harry beside their little brother. But talking with them didn't give Danny much new information since Ron had basically covered everything. Though Danny still enjoyed their company. They were able to joke around him freely while the others were still a bit tentative around him. 

Percy had known Harry as long as his three brothers had, but it turned out the two were just passing acquaintances. Danny couldn't blame Harry. He could tell within moments of meeting Percy that he wasn't the most pleasant companion. 

But the older boy knew a great deal about wizarding laws and regulations and could give really good advice on academic materials. Percy was both surprised and pleased that Danny sought his help, and was kind enough to provide him with few pointers before shutting himself back in his room. 

The youngest Weasley turned out to be the most difficult one to talk to. 

They hadn't even officially been introduced due to the chaos in the first few days. Danny could feel Ginny Weasley's curious gaze on him all the time, but the girl would flee back to her bedroom the moment he turned to face her direction. If they were eating at the table, she would keep glancing at him from time to time but duck as soon as Danny met her eyes, blushing fiercely. 

A fan, obviously. 

Then there was an anonymous get well card appeared next to his pillow one day, positioned just enough so he could see it. It wasn't hard to know who sent it by the delicate small flowers drawn on it. 

However, the girl started avoiding him at all costs from then on. 

"Our little one totally has a crush on you." Fred told him when Danny asked the twins about it, "Couldn't stop talking about you this summer- She kept asking everyone if you were okay at least twice a day after you came-"

"Quite annoying really-"

"-But adorable as well-"

"-Then Mum told her to stop bothering you, leave you alone and let you rest." George said.

"She is not bothering me." Danny signed, though he knew it wasn't entirely wrong, "I just hope she could actually talk to me, instead of bolting the moment I enter a room. We've been living under the same roof for two weeks now, yet we haven't exchanged even one word."

"You two might've broken the record. The last time people managed to not talk to each other in this house for so long was when Fred switched all Percy's clothes with Auntie Muriel's dress robes. Aunt Muriel sent a howler from Australia once she realized what was inside her travel trunk." George laughed, "Perhaps Ginny is trying to invent a new type of relationship which doesn't involve actual interactions-"

"-It's already invented. It's called _stalking_."

 

The chance to fix it came at an unexpected time.

Possessing a corpse was hard enough on it's own, but sleeping in it was even trickier. It was more like fainting than sleeping. Danny got the exact same feeling whenever he was trapped in a Fenton Thermos. It greatly restrained his senses, which included his sense for the time, and Danny often found himself waking up when he wasn't supposed to. 

He wasn't surprised to find himself wide awake at five in the morning. 

It's a bit too late to go back to 'sleep'. He had tried it once before and almost got himself another trip to St. Mungo's. The others had thought he was in a coma when they couldn't wake him up.

A walk around the area would be good. Danny had never lived in the countryside before and found himself enjoying the miles of fields surrounding the Burrow. Here, this place was tranquil in a way he had never felt in the cities. 

While the whole household was still sleeping and with no intention to wake anyone, Danny dressed quietly and walked downstairs in silence. 

Then he saw a small figure sneaking out of the back door.

Danny frowned and found himself following after Ginny almost instinctively. He knew this area was pretty safe, but he still didn't like the idea of a little girl running around all on her own, especially at this early hour. 

To his puzzlement, he was led to the closed broom shed in the backyard. He knew this was the place where everyone kept their brooms, but he had never seen Ginny approach here before.

Ginny reappeared when she opened the door, the excitement on her face changed into utter horror the instant she laid her eyes on him. 

She was holding a broom, a broom Danny recognized and was sure belonged to one of the twins.

Huh. Guess kids here 'borrowed' their brother's flying broom rather than their mother's lipstick.

"I- I- It's not- I didn't mean to- " The girl stuttered. She seemed on the edge to cry or faint at any second, Danny couldn't tell which would come first. Hopefully none. At moments like this, he dearly hoped he had learnt more about how to deal with children.

"Please, please don't tell Mum- "

"You can try mine if you want." He ended up blurting the first thing came to his mind.

And now Ginny was looking at him like she suddenly didn't understand English. _Great job, Danny._

"I mean, nobody can say you nicked it if I lent it to you first, right?"

Ginny proceeded to prove human faces could blush and pale at the same time. It took her few more seconds to remember how to speak: "I- I can't- Thank you, but I- " 

Danny, however, had already picked up his- Harry's- broomstick, the one shiny enough to easily stand out from the others. Ginny looked about ready to panic when Danny held it out for her. She dropped George's broom in haste and raised two hands to take it. 

She had such awe on her face, as if Danny was presenting her with Excalibur.

"Wow," Ginny said, staring at the broom in her hands with wonder, " _The_ Nimbus 2000."

"You wanna try it?"

Ginny blushed again, but there was an undeniable joy and thrill in her eyes. 

"For real?" 

"Of course. Why don't you join our flying session too? After breakfast, I mean." Danny offered.

It seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Ginny's face dropped immediately. 

"They won't let me." She mumbled in a small voice, "And Mum said girls shouldn't play sports."

Danny stifled back a snort. 

Although he had to admit he could see some reasons behind. He had only tried flying with a broom a few times, but he could already tell it was dangerous. For one, there was zero safety protocols on brooms, and if someone slipped while they were in midair, there was no guarantee they wouldn't end up being human paste when they were back on earth. 

"How about this," Danny said after considering for a moment, "Let me see how well you can fly. Then we try to figure out a way to convince your mom and brothers to have you join us. And if we fail... Well, you can always borrow mine."

Ginny blinked in disbelief. "You are not going to tell?"

"Nope. And I can't see how it's going to stop you. Just promise me you will let me be there or at least tell me beforehand. I'd rather you have someone to watch your back. Does that sound okay?"

Ginny practically beamed at him.

Danny had decided to use George's broom when she flew, floating near the ground and ready to catch her if she fell. Truth to be told Ginny was actually a decent flyer. Not as good as her brothers, but close, the girl obviously had talent and experience. Danny wondered exactly how long it was that she been sneaking out to fly behind everyone's back.

Flying also seemed to greatly boost Ginny's confidence. She proved herself to be quite a talker once she was confident enough to speak up, with an energetic personality that was so opposite to the shy girl Danny usually saw. He had a feeling that she hadn't had someone to chat with freely for some time now, which wasn't a surprise as she was the youngest and the only girl in the house. 

"By the way, thank you for your card." Danny told her when they snuck back into the house.

"It's nothing." Ginny's face reddened, "I'm sorry about the way I had been bothering you. I was so stupid."

They almost ran into Mrs. Weasley, who traditionally was the first one up and was on her way to feed chickens. Danny took cover for Ginny and made sure she had slipped back to her room unnoticed. He almost got caught when he dashed to the stairs. Luckily for him, Molly Weasley didn't notice him either as their family owl Errol chose that moment to deliver the mails and happened to smash himself against the window on the way.

He learnt later that day, when he came down in an hour, that mail delivery- or crash, more like- was from the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to include the shopping part in this chapter too, but it had become too long and so I had to cut it into two chapters :<
> 
> And to whom it may concern, nobody from HP is not going to be romantically involved with Danny. Though canon pairs will still be covered. I know a lot of people don't like Ginny but I sincerely hope there are no serious haters here, as she is going to be a regular character in this fic ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are highly welcomed! 
> 
> You can find me on twitter [@bb_roin](https://twitter.com/bb_roin) now :D


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